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Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc.

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  • All Committee on Academic Freedom

Acquisition and Unethical Use of Documents Removed from Iraq by New York Times Journalist Rukmini Callimachi

Letter to the New York Times concerning Rukmini Callimachi’s series “The ISIS Files” that employs nearly 16,000 documents removed from Iraq by her and her team without permission of the relevant Iraqi authorities. In addition to the complete disregard for the myriad legal, professional, ethical, and moral issues involved, including endangering individuals by the reckless publication of unredacted documents, their removal from Iraq is a violation of a number of international customary laws.

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Israel’s Administrative Detention of Birzeit University Student

Letter to Israeli state authorities expressing alarm about Israel’s mistreatment and administrative detention of Omar al-Kiswani, president of the Birzeit University student council. CAF deplores Israel’s practice of administrative detention as well as the conditions under which al-Kiswani is being held. They violate international humanitarian law, al-Kiswani's right to education, and they disrupt the university’s learning environment.

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Exposing Canary Mission

MESA’s Committee on Academic Freedom has issued a resource guide for college and university leaders on actions they can take to counteract a secretive, political organization called Canary Mission that uses its website to engage in defamatory attacks against college students and faculty who engage in advocacy for Palestinian rights and academic inquiry about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Continuing detention without trial of Ahmed Mansoor

Letter to UAE authorities regarding the one-year anniversary of the detention of Ahmed Mansoor, an internationally-acclaimed human rights activist and recipient of the 2015 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, and drawing attention to the imprisonment of dozens of other academics, lawyers, opposition figures, and human rights activists in the UAE.

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New emergency decrees (KHK) 695 and 696

Letter to PM Yıldırım and President Erdoğan concerning the two new emergency decrees (KHK) 695 and 696 issued on 24 December 2017 in the Official Gazette, the first of which terminates the positions of 105 academic personnel from 36 universities and the second of which provides legal immunity to civilians who engage in violence under certain circumstances.Başbakan Yıldırım ve Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan'a hitaben, 24 Aralık 2017'de Resmi Gazete'de yayınlanarak 36 üniversitede 105 akademisyenin görevine son veren 694 sayılı Kanun Hükmünde Kararname (KHK) ve bazı eylemlere şiddet yoluyla müdahale eden sivillerin cezai sorumluluğunun kaldırılmasını öngören 696 sayılı KHK hakkında yazılmış mektup.

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